Equal Pay Day April 14th: NOW’s Call to Action!

Call Your Assemblymembers in Support of Equal Pay Bill (A.6075)

Join us at the NOW New York office starting at 3pm (until 8pm) or sign up to make calls from home, as we kick-off a statewide call-in day of action in support of equal pay legislation in New York State. Assembly members will be in their home districts, and they need to hear from YOU! A strong equal pay bill (A.6075/Michele Titus) has already been introduced. Let’s amplify our voices for women’s economic empowerment.

If you can’t join us at the office – Help us flood the phones in support of fair pay for women. Email us at contact@nownyc.org and pledge to make three calls on Equal Pay Day, Tuesday, April 14th!

(1) Speaker Carl Heastie 718-654-6539 and(2) Assemblymember Michele Titus (Sponsor of the Equal Pay Bill) 718-327-1845Here’s what you can say:“Thank you for your leadership on pay equality for women. I’m calling on Equal Pay Day to let you know that I fully support the Equal Pay Bill A.6075. This is issue is very important to me and to my family…” (Mention your name and neighborhood)

(3) YOUR Assemblymember (be sure to call their district office)Here’s what you can say:“Today is Equal Pay Day, and I’m calling to urge you to act now to support Equal Pay Bill A.6075 (sponsored by Assemblymember Titus). This issue is very important to me and to my family. New York has a long way to go to ending gender discrimination in the workplace, please do all you can to pass this bill, it would be a big step forward for women and families.” (Mention your name and neighborhood!)

Why We Need the Equal Pay Bill:

In New York State, women earn only 86% of what men earn, and this wage gap is even larger for women of color: African-American women earn only 66% and Latinas earn only 54% of what men earn. Current research shows that mothers are the sole or primary breadwinner in more than 40% of families nationwide. In New York City, 40% of single mothers live in poverty with their children. By closing the wage gap, we will help lift families out of poverty and strengthen the economic security of women and their families statewide.

The New York State Equal Pay Legislation will:

(1) Outlaw wage secrecy policies and prevent employer retaliation for sharing wage information. A majority of private sector U.S. employees – 61% – say that their employers discourage or prohibit any discussion of wage or salary.

(2) Strengthen the enforcement of equal pay laws, by closing a current loophole in the law that makes it easier for employers to justify paying women less. Similar to the federal Paycheck Fairness Act, this bill will raise the bar on the affirmative defense that employers use in justifying pay differentials, changing the law from “any other factor other than sex” to “a bona fide factor other than sex.”

(3) Establish equal wages for employees who work for the same employer but at different workplaces (within the same county). Currently only employees at the same physical location have to be paid the same wage.

(4) Hold employers accountable, by increasing damages that an individual who brings and wins a pay discrimination case in court to 300% of unpaid wages.

Why Are We Getting Started at 3pm?

Forget about the 9 to 5! Nationally, women earn only two-thirds of what men earn. If we worked the equivalent of what our work is valued, we’d be clocking out at 3pm every day. To mark the fact that women earn less – we are dropping everything at 3pm and calling our legislators to pass the Equal Pay Bill (A.6075) now!

About Equal Pay Day:

Equal Pay Day was established in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) as a public awareness event to illuminate the gap between men’s and women’s wages. Equal Pay Day symbolizes the point into the next year to which a woman must work to achieve pay equity for the previous year.